The Last Halloween: The legend of the Veiled lady
by sabrina-diamond
Summary: This is the Legend... Of the Veiled Lady who is abound at night... Read and beware of this creepy Halloween tale... It just might just come true, and stick to you!


**The Last Halloween**

"Aren't you going out for trick or treat?" Stephanie Tjang's mom asked two weeks before Halloween. "If you want me to make a costume, we'd better get started. How about going as a werewolf?"

"I'm getting kind of old for that," Stephanie Tjang said. "Maybe I'll skip it this year."

Stephanie Tjang's mom seemed surprised. "Are you sure? I thought you loved to go out?"

Stephanie Tjang nodded. "I'm pretty sure." She'd been thinking about it ever since last year -- ever since those younger kids, Leah McConnell and Danielle had stolen her candy and chased her down the street. As much as she loved Halloween, it just wasn't worth the risk. Monster terror was fun. Real terror wasn't.

"There's still time for me to make a werewolf costume," Stephanie Tjang's mom said a week before Halloween.

"Thanks," Stephanie Tjang told her, "but I think I'll just stay home and hand out candy." That might even be nice, she thought. She liked the little kids in their cute costumes. Her enthusiasm faded as she realized the younger kids would come to her door, too -- the ones who didn't even bother with real costumes, the ones who were just out to get as much candy as they could.

"Last chance," Stephanie Tjang's mom said the day before Halloween. "I can still put something together."

Stephanie Tjang shook her head. She looked out the window at the leaf-strewn streets that would soon be awash with costumed kids. "No thanks," Stephanie Tjang said.

But on Halloween, as the day fell dark and the smallest trick-or-treaters emerged from their houses like ants spilling from a hill, Stephanie Tjang knew she had to join them.

Costume, she thought, rummaging through her closet. Nothing. Sure, she could throw together a hippy look by tying a rag on as a headband, or do some sort of clown thing with makeup, but that wasn't good enough.

She tried the basement. Upstairs, she heard the doorbell ring. The first trick or treaters had arrived. As she scanned the piles of boxes stacked along a wall, a flash of a gold latch caught her eye.

Her grandmother's old trunk was in a corner, beneath boxes of baby toys and a stack of relics. Stephanie Tjang vaguely remembered looking in the trunk when they'd first moved to the house. She uncovered the trunk and opened it. A dusty smell of ancient cloth tickled her nose. She sorted through the contents, just old dresses. Nice enough, but not the sort of costume she wanted. There was a hat with a veil. That might work in an emergency, but she had hoped to find something better.

Stephanie Tjang found nothing else. But, as she started to close the lid, she realized that something was wrong. The outside of the trunk seemed deeper than the inside. She emptied the trunk and knocked her fist against the bottom. It sounded hollow. She pushed and pressed until she stumbled across the right spot. The false bottom slipped up.

Stephanie Tjang held her breath as she lifted the wood panel, wondering what treasures she might find.

Gloves. That was all, elegant black gloves. They seemed to be made of some sort of leather. A slip of paper next to them said, "Special gloves for a particular night."

The doorbell rang again. Stephanie Tjang heard a chorus of young voices shouting "Trick or Treat!" as her mum answered the door. Halloween was slipping past her like hourglass sand.

Stephanie Tjang grabbed the hat. Not a great costume, but it would have to do. On a whim, she grabbed the gloves, too. After all, it was a special night, even if she didn't have a special costume. She slipped the gloves over her hands. They fit like a second skin. She put on the hat. The veil cut her off from the world, letting through small glimpses.

Stephanie Tjang ran upstairs and grabbed her Halloween bag. "I'm going out," she called to her mom. She dashed into the crisp air of the last night in October.

As she got her first piece of candy, from Mrs Aunty Geock next door, Stephanie Tjang knew she hadn't missed Halloween. She crossed the familiar streets, following a pattern she'd worked out several years ago. At most houses, she heard the same familiar question. "What an interesting costume. What are you supposed to be?"

"Just a veiled lady," Stephanie Tjang told them. She reached Deadly Street, s dead end. The best path was down one side and up the other. She went to the first house, and then the second.

And then she heard the footsteps behind her, footsteps and whispers. A crowd, shorter kids, younger kids. Leah McConnell and Danielle were in front. Stephanie Tjang recognised them; she saw them at school. They were really tough even though they were smaller than her. She skipped the next house and crossed the street.

They followed. Going to each house right after her. Playing with her the way a cat plays with a mouse. They had time. She was trapped.

Stephanie Tjang crossed Deadly Street again.

They crossed, too, and again.

Stephanie Tjang gripped her bag with her right hand, feeling the handle bite against her palm through the thin leather of the gloves. I'm just going to walk back to the corner, she told herself. She'd go past them, and everything would be fine.

She looked straight ahead. She took a step toward them.

A crude laugh bubbled from the cluster of kids. "Trick or treat," Leah McConnell said. Her only costume was a Barbie doll shirt. Behind her, Danielle, the tallest of the group, wore a motorcycle jacket.

"Going to share?" Leah McConnell asked.

Stephanie Tjang avoided her eyes. "No way,"

Leah McConnell stepped closer and reached toward her bag chuckling evilly.

Stephanie Tjang put her left hand out towards Leah. She froze as the oddest sound punctured the night.

Thwick... thwick... thwick... thwick... thwick.

Claws, black as coal and sharp as needles, sprouted from her fingertips and curved. They looked like black cat claws, but much larger.

"Just give me the bag," Leah McConnell said.

Stephanie Tjang smiled. She had turned the table on Leah, definitely. She gave Leah the razor sharp claws instead.

Leah McConnell screamed and clutched at her ripped shirt. The others took a step toward her. Stephanie Tjang flicked her arm out and slashed Danielle's leather jacket to ribbons. She slashed a bit of skin, too, but only enough to warn her off, only enough to make her think twice the next time she considered stalking a victim.

Even in the dark, the others saw enough to know what she had done.

They turned and fled into the night. But not before Stephanie Tjang had flicked her wrist a final time, gutting their bags and spilling candy on the street.

The claws retracted into her fingers painlessly.

Stephanie Tjang left the spilled candy alone for the little ones to find. She'd already received her reward. She finished her path along Deadly Street, making sure not to miss the house she'd skipped earlier.

"My, my, that's a lovely costume. What are you supposed to be?" said the lady.

"Justice," Stephanie Tjang whispered slyly.

"What?" the woman asked.

"Just a veiled lady," Stephanie Tjang said, smiling slightly.

Her bag was nearly full. Normally, that was when she'd return home. But there were other kids out there like her, alone and vulnerable. And there were other gangs like the one she'd met. Stephanie Tjang stayed on the streets until the last porch light went dark. Finally, she headed home where her mum was waiting.

"Did you have a good time?" her mum asked.

Stephanie Tjang nodded. She removed the hat and gloves. "Yeah. I think this was the best Halloween ever. I can't wait until next year."

"Well, just let me know ahead of time if you want a costume," her mum told her.

"I think I'll stick with this one," Stephanie Tjang said, pointing to the costume she was wearing. "Its kind of fun. And it fits me really well."


End file.
